Emma Stefansky

Emma Stefansky
Tomatometer-approved critic
Publications: Vanity Fair, ScreenCrush, Uproxx, Thrillist, Polygon

movie Reviews Only

T-Meter Title | Year Review
86% The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) The Lego Movie 2 ups the ante on the first hit with its elaborate setup and eye-popping new characters. - Thrillist EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 11, 2019
69% Abducted in Plain Sight (2017) While it's easy to think that no one alive could be as naive as the Brobergs, the documentary is a sobering reminder of the power of manipulation, the failures of the justice system. - Thrillist EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 7, 2019
59% Alita: Battle Angel (2019) This movie proves that, finally, Hollywood not only has the technology, but the imagination necessary to do a great story justice. - Thrillist EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 4, 2019
26% Polar (2019) Polar isn't for everyone, but you can't say it pulls any punches. - Thrillist EDIT
Read More | Posted Jan 28, 2019
37% Glass (2019) Never a particularly subtle director, Shyamalan gives you all the clues you need to figure out most of his third-act twists, provided you know what you're looking for. - Thrillist EDIT
Read More | Posted Jan 15, 2019
47% Escape Room (2019) It's so much fun that the payoff is ultimately a convoluted disappointment, but I can hardly complain considering how many times I gasped or cringed or whispered "yesss" throughout the rest of it. - Thrillist EDIT
Read More | Posted Jan 8, 2019
50% A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding (2018) I also forgot most of A Christmas Prince 2's plot because it doesn't really have one. Maybe that's too mean: it definitely has a plot, one that's actually a little interesting this time. - Thrillist EDIT
Read More | Posted Dec 11, 2018
95% A Quiet Place (2018) A Quiet Place sits comfortably in the fun, poppy subgenre of horror, a popcorn thriller more than a dread-infused meditation on terror, but manages to play around with its own setting and characters enough to stand out. - Uproxx EDIT
Read More | Posted Aug 26, 2018
91% Teen Titans Go! To the Movies (2018) The simplest way to describe it would be a diet version of The LEGO Batman Movie: a film so self-referential it puts even Deadpool's fourth-wall-busting to shame. - Polygon EDIT
Read More | Posted Aug 26, 2018
81% Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018) Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is almost aggressively a movie for everyone to enjoy, a bouncy escape from reality where all problems are resolved in the time it takes to belt out a couple tunes. - Uproxx EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 20, 2018
48% Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) There is a little bit of the wonder and joy that made the original so special embedded deep within Fallen Kingdom, which I credit to Bayona, whose primary drive has always been to sprinkle just enough emotion into the stories he tells. - Uproxx EDIT
Read More | Posted Jun 5, 2018
6/10 54% Under the Silver Lake (2019) Films like this about slow-burn conspiracies that take ages to unravel their cheeky premises rarely live up to all the work that goes into watching them get there, and Under the Silver Lake is no different... But maybe the resolution isn't the point. - ScreenCrush EDIT
Read More | Posted May 21, 2018
4/10 32% Fahrenheit 451 (2018) Reads like a C-minus high school paper: it understands that the book burning is bad, but it doesn't really get why. - ScreenCrush EDIT
Read More | Posted May 15, 2018
7/10 96% BlacKkKlansman (2018) Stallworth's mission did not save the country from its original sin, and Spike Lee's film refuses to absolve us. - ScreenCrush EDIT
Read More | Posted May 15, 2018
15% Blumhouse's Truth or Dare (2018) Truth or Dare again proves that, even with projects that aren't in prestige realm, Jason Blum's production studio is the horror house to watch. - Uproxx EDIT
Read More | Posted Apr 12, 2018
92% Love, Simon (2018) Love, Simon isn't a subtle movie by any means, but it ought to be praised for normalizing something that should have been normal from the start. - Uproxx EDIT
Read More | Posted Mar 13, 2018
38% Gringo (2018) It's an especially fun dark comedy from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose. - Uproxx EDIT
Read More | Posted Mar 8, 2018
56% The Greatest Showman (2017) The Greatest Showman is earnest, joyful, not bad enough to be bad, but not good enough to be the next Rent. - Uproxx EDIT
Read More | Posted Dec 20, 2017